iKOYi, London’s Newest West African Inspired Restaurant joins other upscale restaurants at the St James’s Market scheme, as it opens its doors today .
iKOYi is a collaboration between Chef Jeremy Chan and Iré Hassan-Odukale and is focused on serving modern African cuisine.
According to their website, they combine bold heat and umami with the highest quality products they can find in a warm and welcoming environment. They explores ingredients such as Grains of Selim, a smokey peppercorn with the scent of eucalyptus, wild black tiger prawns and scotch bonnet chillies, which they ferment, burn and pickle.
This interpretation of West African ingredients and cooking is set to give a rise to a new kind of cuisine that is applicable to a wider global audience.
Mains include wild Nigerian tiger prawn with banga bisque and corn grits to share, Jollof rice comes seasoned with smoked bone marrow and groundnut miso. You can also expect dishes such as octopus and nettle stew on a fermented rice pancake, or ‘coal-kissed’ mackerel with tiger-nut milk and pungent, citrusy melegueta pepper.
iKOYi has the capacity to sit 48 and is named after Ikoyi, Lagos the birthplace of restaurant co-founder Iré Hassan Odukale.
The restaurant also incorporates a small cocktail bar and has worked closely with Max and Noel Venning of Three Sheets Bar to create a West African inspired drinks menu designed to be paired with the food being served. Guinness Stone Fence, one of the drinks on the menu is a cacao nib-infused rum served with lime flower and Nigerian Guinness.
So if you are in London this summer, this is a must visit restaurant!
For reservations and table bookings visit www.ikoyilondon.com
Photo Credit: iKOYi London